Mobro 4000
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The Mobro 4000 is a barge made famous in 1987 for hauling the same load of trash along the east coast of North America from New York to Belize and back before a way was found to dispose of the garbage. Chartered by entrepreneur Lowell Harrelson and Long Island mob boss Salvatore Avellino, it set sail on March 22 from Islip, New York, escorted by the tugboat Break of Dawn and carrying 3,168 tons of trash headed for a pilot program in Morehead City, North Carolina, to be turned into methane. Before the barge could reach its destination, a rumor began that it contained medical waste, prompting state officials to rescind Harrelson's permit. The barge then proceeded along the coast looking for another place to offload and continuing to meet stiff resistance. The Mexican navy denied it entrance to their waters. It made it as far south as Belize, again being rejected, before returning to New York. Upon arrival it was met with a temporary restraining order and a heated legal battle preventing it from docking. In October, the trash was finally incinerated in Brooklyn and the resulting ash was buried back where it started, in Islip.
At the time, the Mobro 4000 incident was widely cited by environmentalists and in the media as evidence that the United States was facing a solid waste disposal crisis due to an imminent shortage of landfill space. It triggered much national public discussion about waste disposal, and it may have been a factor in increased recycling rates in the late 1980s.
Later analysis of the situation has shown little evidence of an impending crisis at the time. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Mobro 4000 incident was caused by a combination of poor decision making by local Islip public officials and short-term difficulties triggered by changing environmental regulations.
[edit] References
- Brower, Michael, and Warren Leon. 1999. The consumer's guide to effective environmental choices: practical advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80281-X.
- Katz, Jane. 2002. What a waste Regional Review 1. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
